Double Up Food Bucks
Double Up Food Bucks, a pilot program designed to encourage food stamp recipients to buy more fresh produce at neighborhood farmers’ markets, is off to a successful start, according to Dan Madigan, executive director of the Farmers Market Association of Toledo.

The program is on track to bring more than $40,000 in food stamp dollars to local farmers this season, and those dollars, plus the “match,” are providing low-income shoppers with fresh, healthy, local fruits and vegetables.

Food bucks “make my food dollars go further,” said a shopper who was making her first visit to the market recently. She’s not alone: Hundreds of food stamp (SNAP) customers, including more than 150 first-time visitors, have joined the throngs at the Saturday morning markets where their SNAP benefit dollars are matched, up to $20 per week, with “Double Up” tokens which can be used to purchase locally grown fruits and vegetables.

In 2006, the Toledo Farmers Market became the first Farmers Market in Ohio to accept the Ohio Direction Card, Ohio’s “food stamp” card. In 2008, the Market was able to purchase wireless terminals capable of processing the Ohio Direction Card as well as credit card sales. Customers receive minted metal tokens to spend with market vendors.

Double Up Food Bucks, which began as a pilot in Detroit in 2009, is a project of the Fair Food Network. Partners including the University of Toledo Urban Affairs Center and the Center for Innovative Food Technology have contributed to project administration and promotion.

Lucas County Job & Family Services has helped to inform eligible food stamp users of the opportunity to save. Local supporters including the United Way, ProMedica Health Systems and the Toledo Community Foundation raised the “matching” dollars from local sources. An informal group of community agencies has come together to promote and enhance the program by providing recipes, cooking demonstrations and market bags to participants.

Double Up Food Bucks are available at the Saturday morning market downtown from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and at the Wednesday market at Westgate from 3 to 7 p.m. The program will continue through October and the Market is exploring ways to continue it in future seasons, Madigan said.

WSOS feted
In August, WSOS Vice President Ruthann House and Kerrie Carte, development specialist, accepted the 2011 Community Economic Development Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award for the Green Ohio/Weatherization Works Corps program WSOS administered.

The award was conferred on WSOS by the national Community Action Partnership (CAP) and is one of four the CAP awarded to agencies across the nation.

WSOS administered this program for the past two years and it included operating the program within WSOS and at several community action agencies throughout Ohio.

The Green Ohio/Weatherization Works Corps program allowed more than 130 young adults to learn the processes and techniques necessary for weatherizing homes. During the program, the youth weatherized 1,648 homes around Ohio. WSOS operates the weatherization program in Wood, Sandusky, Ottawa, Seneca, Erie, and Huron counties.

The 2011 award was presented during CAP’s annual convention held in San Francisco.

For more information on weatherization or other programs operated by WSOS, call 1-800-775-9767 or visit www.wsos.org.

Chili & Soup Cook Off
On Sunday, Sept. 11 from 1 to 3 p.m., Elmore Golden Oldies will host a Chili & Soup Cook Off at the Elmore Community Building, located across from the library.

The event will include hot dogs, chili/soup tasting and beverages, and an Ice Cream Social. Young Love Ministries with Joe and Nancy Young will entertain on the library lawn beginning at 2:30 p.m., weather permitting.  The cost is $3 per person. Everyone is invited to attend. For more information, call 419-862-9003 or 419-862-3874.

Searching Your Roots
“Searching Your Ohio Roots” is the topic of a new class being offered Sept. 17 at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont.

Led by head librarian Becky Hill, the class will take place from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Hayes Research Library. It will concentrate on existing Ohio resources that can assist in tracking down family members from the Buckeye state, including vital records, land records, printed and online materials. Hill also will touch on the migration patterns to the state.

The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for students through high school. Pre-registration is required. Call 419-332-2081 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to register. Partial funding for the class is provided by RootsMagic.

Lake fundraiser
Lake High School students are participating in a fundraiser to support the Academic Excellence awards, which acknowledge outstanding students and citizenship.

For the next two weeks, students will be calling residents of the Lake Schools community, offering for sale frozen pizza, gourmet coffee samplers, cookie dough, roasted mixed nuts, extra-life light bulbs, weather radios and trash bags. All products are guaranteed and will be delivered at no cost.

Calls will be placed between 4 and 9 p.m.

Harrison Rally Day
Perrysburg Area Arts Council (PAAC) will wrap up the busiest portion of its event season with Rally for the Arts at the annual Harrison Rally Day Sept. 17 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in downtown Perrysburg.

The annual community arts festival will feature a selection of juried fine arts, unique artisan offerings, live entertainment and children’s art activities. Events are free and open to the public.

Entertainment on the performance stage at Louisiana Avenue and Second Street will lead off with the Cottonwood Jam String Band at 11a.m., followed by Kentucky Chrome at 1 p.m. and Bobby May and the Dry Bones Revival at 3 p.m.

Last year, Rally for the Arts drew nearly 100 artists, artisans and performers to the downtown Perrysburg area and was attended by an estimated 15,000 people.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact PAAC at 419-873-ARTS (2787) or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

9/11 Rally
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Oregon, will host a 9/11 Rally Day Sept. 11 at the 8 and 10:30 a.m. services. A picnic lunch will begin at noon. Sunday School classes will begin at 9:30 a.m.

Everyone welcome.

Shoe collection drive
Through Sept. 16, Owens Community College’s Environmental Club is conducting a Shoe Collection Drive at its Toledo-area campus.

The initiative is part of a nationwide effort with USAgain, an environmental organization accepts clothing for recycling or resale in the United States as well as abroad. USAgain operates over 10,000 collection bins in 15 states. At the drive’s conclusion, all shoes will be presented to Erek Hansen of Curtice to assist with his personal goal of promoting environmental conservation and awareness. Earlier this year, the Environmental Club presented more than 200 denim materials to Hansen as part of a collection drive initiative with the “Cotton. From Blue to Green program.

All types of shoes will be accepted as part of the collection drive. Donated shoes will either be reused or processed and recycled into material used in synthetic turf, playgrounds, running tracks, tennis courts, rubber mats and filling for car insulation.

Owens has set up a variety of collection points around campus including the Student Health and Activities Center and the College Hall Bookstore.

For more information or to donate, call 1-800-GO-OWENS, ext. 7583.

Boating education
An Ohio Boating Education Course will be offered at Bass Pro Shops, 10000 Bass Pro Blvd., Rossford, Sept. 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The course will cover a variety of boating topics, such as navigational “rules of the road,” personal safety equipment, navigational signage, Ohio boating laws and more.

The fee is $5, which covers the cost of course materials. Pre-registration is required due to class size limitations. For more information, call the Maumee Bay Watercraft Office at 419-836-6003 or visit www.ohiodnr.com.

Groove in the Grove
Clay High Alumni & Friends will present the 14th Annual Groove in the Grove and Hall of Fame Induction Sept. 17 from 6 p.m. to midnight at Oak Shade Grove, 3624 Seaman Rd., Oregon.

Dinner will be served 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. and the Hall of Fame induction will follow at 7:45 p.m. in the Pavilion. Dancing will follow in the Cheesehouse, while there will be cards, games and reminiscing in the Pavilion.

This year’s inductees include William Coontz (posthumously) and Alan Mascsak.

Coontz, a teacher, coach and recreation director, began his teaching and coaching career at Clay Senior High School in the early 1950s. As coach of the varsity basketball team and assistant coach of football and wrestling, Coontz led the teams to numerous winning seasons. He retired from teaching in 1978.

He was named the first Oregon Recreation Director after serving a number of years in a volunteer capacity. He initiated the Oregon Day Parade, the Little Eagle Football program, and started summer programs at all the elementary school playgrounds. He also began the Junior Olympics at the high school stadium.

Coontz’s dream was for Oregon to have a lighted ball field, and he encouraged city council to allow the use of acreage behind the municipal building for that purpose. He received permission, but no permanent buildings were to be built. He not only started the diamonds from scratch, but developed a portable concession stand, thought to be the first one in the country. The recreation fields are now known as the William P. Coontz Recreation Complex.

Coontz was elected to Oregon City Council and served one term.  

Mascsak was a 1970 graduate of Clay Senior High School and a 1975 graduate of Miami University, where he received a BA in history. He enrolled in the 93rd Office Candidate Course with the U.S. Marine Corps. He was commissioned in 1975 as a Second Lieutenant in the USMC Reserve, and in 1976, he was promoted to First Lieutenant and served in the Regular Component of the USMC.

In 1979, Mascsak did a tour of duty as an Aerial Observer with the Marine Observation Two and in 1960, he was promoted to Captain. In 1982, he was an instructor with the Communication Officer School and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal. He was promoted to Major in 1986. In 1989, he was selected as one of four officers for the Foreign Area Office (FAO) program. In 1990, he graduated from the Russian Language Basic Course and served in many Eastern European countries.

In 1992, as a commanding officer, Mascsak led his Marines in their deployment for “Operation Restore Hope” in Somalia, and served in 1993 as the Defense Attaché in the Republic of Armenia.

Twice awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, he closed his military career with 20 years of service and is now a project manager/technical consultant with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Special Operation Command.

Tickets to the event, which is open to those 21 and older, are $20 for dinner, drinks and dancing (advance sales only), $15 for drinks and dancing and $10 for drinks and dancing after 10 p.m. Tickets are available at Clay High School or by calling 419-693-0665, ext. 2044.

Chopper Dropper
The Clay High Alumni & Friends 2011 “Chopper Dropper” will be held Sept. 23 on the football field after the Homecoming Game.

The chopper will drop hundreds of numbered balls on the football field, offering the chance to win a first prize of $1,000, a second prize of $500 and a third prize of $250.

Balls are on sale for $10 each at home football game, at the Clay High School office  (call 419-693-0665, ext. 2044) or by calling Larry Kesling at 419-693-9223.

Proceeds benefit the CHAFA Scholarship Fund.

Operation Buckeye Guard
The Genoa Comet football team and the Genoa Athletic Department is joining with more than 325 other teams across the state of Ohio to support the 3,200 Ohio National Guardsmen being deployed to Afghanistan this year in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Before the Sept. 17 game against Fostoria, the Comets will collect items for care packages to be sent to troops overseas. Items to be collected include beef jerky/Slim Jims, sunflower seeds, peanuts, Smarties or SweeTart candies, chewing gum, Avon Skin So Soft, AA alkaline batteries, disposable razors, toothbrushes and toothpaste, pre-paid phone cards, etc. Collection boxes will be set up at both the North and South entrances to Comet Stadium.

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